Get The Most Out Of Your Marketing Podcast – Episode 1

Get The Most Out Of Your Marketing Podcast – Episode 1

In the first Get The Most Out of Your Marketing podcast Glenn Bartlett and Jeff Cooper from Step Change show you how to increase your sales, generate more traffic, attract more attention, gain more credibility, outsmart your competitors and offer a unique customer experience that will keep your customers coming back for more.

Today’s first question is ‘How can we become a household name and go big?’ Download the PDF

Background: We are a solid timber furniture manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer for over 10 years. We are still staying as a SME. Furniture being sold for $7000
can only be sold for $3000 now even though the material and labour costs have increased. Over the last 5 years, we have closed half our showrooms despite doing
SEO, email marketing, banners, yellow pages and other advertisements.

In this question we will explore the following topics:

Identifying and understanding your category

Innovating to satisfy your customer

The price misconception

Finding your value-add

Perfecting your customer experience

Has there been an industry disruption?

If people are paying less for the same product over time, this is a clear indication of some sort of a disruption. In this age, it probably is some sort of digital disruption. This is a great opportunity to understand it and revisit your category to see what has changed and what you need to do to stay on top of it.

Understanding your category

Then, it becomes important for you to consider the Predatory Marketing principles. The first question to ask yourself is “who has your money?”. This is a great question in understanding consumer sentiment and what people are looking for. You then need to construct a strategy to get the money out of their pockets and into yours. In order to do that, you need to be
competitive and demonstrate the value in your product. Asking this question will also help you position yourself. It will help you work out where you stand in comparison to your competitors – how far off you are. Once you gain a realistic view on where you are, it becomes easier for you to position your product more competitively.

Innovating to satisfy your customer

To generate innovative ideas to capture more market share, you need to determine what people are buying right now. Understanding this, gives you a deeper insight into consumer sentiment and what’s important to the customer. This is also your opportunity to get creative with customer acquisition. But first, you need to get the volume, so a great tactic to use is the creation of a Halo Product.

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Halo Product

Create a product that gives your customers a reason to come into your store. Then, you can trade them into the mass market product. For example, you can create a furniture piece can be made from exotic materials, designed by unique Australian artists or a historical piece that’s worth a lot of money. This gives your customers something worth talking about. Once your customer is in the store, you can focus on your strategy and work out how to demonstrate value.

People revert to price when they are unclear of value

The misconception that people only shop on price comes from the fact that customers only revert to price when they’re unclear on the value. You need to outline your business positioning and articulate your value proposition. It can be the way your product is made, your company’s purpose, the people who work with you… This can be an emotional story about how the company started or how your manufacturing methods are different from your competitors. People love stories so use every opportunity to engage them. Once you have this story, this gives your customer a reason to pay more for your product.

Finding your value-adds

There is a value-add for every business. You need to identify certain offerings which have a high perceived cost but low actual costs. (A great example is extended warranty offers as they usually last the same time as the product’s life cycle). An idea you can consider is offering a furniture disaster repair service – the value here is in the peace of mind the customer will get.

Customer experience

The next step is to focus on the shopping experience. There’s a reason why bookstores and furniture stores have cafes. Showrooms are the same. You need to create an experience that’s so worthwhile it generates word of mouth, which will attract customers meaning more traffic.

To save on costs, you can also consider using the showroom as an advert rather than show room – almost like a billboard. This creates mystery and you can use this to lead your customers online. Not only will this save you rent money, but it will also make your company seem up to date, modern and a convenient place to shop.